Interview with Vinny Ribas, CEO of Indie Connect – – Part II

For those of you who missed Part I of the Underground Nashville interview with Vinny Ribas (presented in its entirely below), let me recap a couple of quick points, as a lead-in:

Vinny Ribas is the founder and head of Indie Connect, the most innovative and empowering indie music networking organization in Nashville. (The organization also has offices in New York and Dayton.)

Underground Nashville recently interviewed Vinny about Indie Connect and how it is benefiting our local indie music community. Following is Part II or our two-part interview.

UNDERGROUND NASHVILLE:Can you share a few specific stories about the types of helpful connections made at Indie Connect?

VINNY RIBAS: We have people from all levels of the industry showing up, ranging from aspiring artists to former major label stars. We have hit songwriters and first time songwriters. It’s this mix that makes anything possible. Some examples of success stories include:

Shaun Murphy came to one of our meetings after 15 years as the co-lead singer of Little Feat, until she was let go because the band was cutting back their schedule. She didn’t know what to do. We found out that she loves to sing the blues. One of our members introduced her to the band that hosts the Monday night blues jam at Bourbon Street. Some of those members became her back-up band. She now has two solo CDs out, and is a hit at blues festivals everywhere. She credits Indie Connect on her first CD with making her new career possible. Songwriter Lisa Aschmann met Shaun at an Indie Connect meeting and landed two songs on her debut CD.

Tracy Snowe, who is my friend and an amazing pop singer, came to a meeting at which Michael Moore was speaking. [Editor’s Note: Michael Moore the music professional, not the filmmaker.] Michael was responsible for marketing the Thriller album, among others, in the 80s. They had coffee after the meeting, and he is now her manager. Today they are close to getting her signed with a major pop label.

Former CMA Female Vocalist Of the Year and hit songwriter, Judy Rodman, is now a sought-after vocal coach. She recently contracted to host her own TV show on vocal health on the Light Waves Inspirational Network (a soon-to-be-launched Internet TV network). That connection, along with dozens of vocal students and production clients, came directly from Indie Connect.

Aspiring country artist Tyson Bowman is now co-writing with a handful of hit songwriters he met at Indie Connect meetings. He just appeared on Music City Late Nights, a TV show hosted by county legend, Ronnie McDowell. That connection came through Indie Connect.

This list could go on and on.

Editor’s Note: Until its new Nashville-area facility opens, Indie Connect meets each Monday at 11:30 AM at Corky’s, located at 100 Franklin Road in Brentwood. The cost is $10 for non-members, plus attendees pay for their own meals and beverages. The organization also holds a monthly ‘Welcome To Nashville’ workshop hosted by Marc-Alan Barnette, and a monthly Christian musicians meeting.

For more information, please visit IndieConnect.org.

David M. (Dave) Carew is editor/writer of “Underground Nashville” and the author of the novels “Everything Means Nothing to Me: A Novel of Underground Nashville” and “Voice from the Gutter.” He also is a freelance book editor, publicist, and copywriter.